vncnus Chapter 373: Too young
Chapter 373: Too young
The Hellfire Moon was cut into two even splits, the two sides falling into different places. And by the time they exploded, splurging fire everywhere, Kaelthorn had already made his escape.
Vale was stunned. He cut the Hellfire Moon into two? His eyes narrowed as he focused more intently on Kaelthorn. "How did you do that?"
The man sneered. "I should tell you how my power works so you can counterattack in the best way?"
Vale shrugged. "It’s worth a try."
If Vale had to guess, Kaelthorn’s power must lie in cutting. The man’s essence felt like blades and sharp objects when they clashed, and him cutting the Hellfire Moon only made his suspicions grow.
’...even all my sword slashes have no effect on him, can it be related to his power? He’s also fast, but each time he’s ready to deliver a powerful attack he needs to slow down and ground himself...’
Vale coldly analyzed his opponent during the brief moment they broke apart, and he knew the man was doing the same with him. Vale tilted his head and gestured, sending a huge fireball his way.
As usual, Kaelthorn danced back to avoid it and stepped right into the pool of bright light. A slim chain made of red light whipped out and curled tightly around his legs.
"Ha!" Kaelthorn was surprised, but his reaction was fast. His hand went down and cleanly cut off the chain.
Instantly a reaction was triggered and the Warden was summoned. The Warden this time appeared like a volcanic stone giant and, with no hesitation, brought his clenched hands down on Kaelthorn.
But the Company Captain did not panic. His two hands flared a blinding green and sharpness spread through the air as he lifted both hands.
Whhom! Whhom!
His two hands sounded like the howl of a tornado as they hit the Warden. Green light hit him and infused into the volcanic stones, instantly cutting into them.
In a blink, the green light had cut through the Warden, cutting hands, chest, and shoulders together in a straight line. The Warden shuddered, his inhuman face showing surprise as it began to turn into fading red light.
At the same time, Vale made another move.
The fireball that he threw never exploded or extinguished. It hung in the air, silently burning, covered in black lines that bound it. When the Warden began to fade, the fireball disappeared and Vale took its place!
He had placed a pact on the fireball to exchange places with him, and now he suddenly appeared before Kaelthorn! The Company Captain took a step back in pure surprise, his legs blurring as if he was about to disappear again, but Vale didn’t go to all that trouble to corner him just to let him leave.
Instantly Vale’s shield shimmered into existence behind Kaelthorn and he slammed into it with a stunned grunt, his focus broken by the unexpected.
Vale didn’t hesitate. He did not use his sword, he dissolved it into fire and wrapped it around his fist. He took a single step forward and that alone brought him into Kaelthorn’s space.
The punch flew and landed before Kaelthorn could react. It was fast and decisive.
Bam!
Right in the stomach. So strong that every bone in Kaelthorn shook and he bent, folding forward before the Hellfire explosion hurled him back.
Vale did not let the chance go. He flew after the downed man, loomed over him, and began to rain down punches on him. Of course Vale did not have the raw physical strength of Master Knights, but he more than made up for it with essence. Blazing red covered his hands as his punches flew down.
The stones beneath them shook and cracked, breaking away with each punch. Each time Kaelthorn raised his hands to block, he was met with a punch and at first his shell held, shiny and durable, but soon it began to dent and show signs of cracking.
Kaelthorn finally cried out in pain. His eyes filled with fear. "You! Ahhh! Basta...ahhhh!"
Now that Vale had him, he wasn’t going to let him go. He ignored him and just kept punching, and at the same time he heated the space around them. Hazy shimmer and dry heat made the temperature extremely high.
Kaelthorn knew then that he would actually die if he did not do something. And so he did something. Suddenly all the bright light shining through his shell vanished and his body suddenly became dull, losing all its luster.
Every single green light disappeared and Kaelthorn himself stood very still, his eyes like broken shards of blades as he watched Vale.
Vale stiffened and froze, his hands hanging in the air as his body screamed of danger.
Eh?
Vale blinked as he was now watching Kaelthorn from a distance! He was already off the man and away! His body moved away automatically as he sensed danger.
Vale tilted his head, his face serious and eyes narrowed. ’....this man....is this a technique?...’
But nothing showed. No outward ripple of power, even the green light of essence that was filling his body and especially his bladed hands was gone. And yet Vale couldn’t deny that sense of danger he was feeling.
It’s not that Kaelthorn had suddenly become more powerful. He was just now ten times more dangerous.
Kaelthorn picked himself up from the ground, his movements slow and graceless.
Vale’s eyes narrowed as he watched him. ’...this....he’s moving like an ordinary human! What the.....!’
Kaelthorn looked at him and then he bowed! "You, Vale Athrimir! You are stronger than me! But you are simply too young! You fight like a beast and all you have is your massive power. Tell me, since you became a Knight have you ever had a Master train you? If I remember correctly, you were in the Borderlands, right? There’s no Knight Assembly branch there."
"What are you talking about?" Vale asked, his voice carrying confusion and mild impatience.
Kaelthorn shook his head. "Look around. All those fighting have spent years doing it. They fight as if they actually know what they are doing. Do you even have trainers?"
Vale was stunned speechless. Why was he getting a lecture from someone trying to kill him? And why did he need a lecture? Vale went with the flow of battle and even improved himself by copying others. That’s how he’d gotten by all these years. And...well, admittedly he sometimes had more essence to throw around than his opponents.
Kaelthorn shook his head. "The reason you’ll die here is because you make no preparation beforehand. You go into battle and expect your powers to overwhelm your enemies, and sometimes it works. It has gotten you this far, but!
"See for yourself! I call this technique, perfected over sixty years, The Great Mantis Dance!"
Vale finally saw the reason for his unease and sense of danger.
Kaelthorn took a step forward and the light that was gone returned. All the powers he was holding back flooded back, but in far different ways. They traced paths through him. Some coated his blades and the rest flooded his legs.
Vale realized instantly and his eyes widened. "You’ll kill yourself!"
Kaelthorn had taken all the power in his body and directed it into two places. His bladed hands and his legs, leaving the rest of his body starved! The rest of his body was now like that of an ordinary human with no essence in it!
Knights are beings of essence and magic. They always have essence circulating in them and, as they grow in rank, their flesh becomes denser and tougher, their blood heavier and their bones like stones. They need essence to keep their bodies together. To make the blood flow and the muscles capable of moving.
But this madman had just directed everything into two places alone? Isn’t that seeking death? But more than that, the sheer mental capacity to do something like that. The absolute control left Vale staggering and he finally understood what Kaelthorn was saying.
If Kaelthorn was threading essence through a needle, then Vale was simply using a mountain to strike the needle!
He laughed. "This body of mine is not ordinary and that’s why I can do what I can do! I can still hold on for a while! We said we wouldn’t kill you, but there’s no choice now!"
Vale’s hair stood on end and his eyes narrowed to points.
Kaelthorn blazed. His hands and feet lit up so brightly that everything else disappeared but those lights.
Vale knew then that he could not survive without getting wounded. He just needed to control how he managed his wounds, to control where the wounds would appear!
He felt a brief dissatisfaction then and he too took a lot of essence and pumped it into his Imprisonment, making flat shields that he hurriedly distributed around his body.
But he knew that wouldn’t work.
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AN..
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